According to Nation’s Restaurant News, “The new chief executive of California Pizza Kitchen Inc. has an opportunity to revive sales at the casual-dining chain, but the brand’s future may require rethinking real estate and its approach to a key demographic of moms at the mall with their kids, observers say.”

“Chief executive, president and executive chairman G.J. Hart officially started the job at CPK last week, but a company spokeswoman said he is not ready for interviews with the press. Formerly chief executive of Texas Roadhouse, Hart was brought in by private-equity firm Golden Gate Capital, which acquired Los Angeles-based CPK in July for $470 million. Hart replaces CPK co-founders Larry Flax and Rick Rosenfield, who remain on the chain’s board of directors.”

Read more: http://nrn.com/article/cpk-road-ahead#ixzz1Xlq4UWnL